Ready-To-Eat ("RTE") breakfast cereals have long been fortified with various vitamins and minerals. Health and nutrition interests have recently focused upon increasing the calcium content of foods and in RTE cereals in particular. The present invention provides improvement in the mineral fortification of cooked cereal products such as Ready-To-Eat cereals. More specifically, the present invention provides improvements in providing lightly colored RTE cereals fortified such as rice and/or corn based with high levels of calcium that are not discolored.
For adults, recent medical studies have indicated that a diet containing the U.S. recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium might be effective in preventing or mitigating osteoporosis, and also possibly high blood pressure and colon cancer. Calcium is also of particular nutritional value in growing children to support bone growth. There is therefore great public interest in the consumption of food products that will supply the recommended daily allowance of calcium.
In view of the desire for introducing more calcium into diets, especially children's diets, it would be desirable if such RTE cereal products were fortified with supplemental calcium to provide a significantly nutritionally enhanced product. By significantly nutritionally enhanced is meant a product having at least 10% of the current recommended daily allowance ("RDA") or at least 100 mg of calcium per serving (typically 25 to 35 g of product) of RTE cereal.
Calcium can be added in limited amounts to RTE cereal products. However, at higher levels of calcium fortification, the presence of such high amounts of calcium can adversely interfere with other desired characteristics. For example, high levels of added calcium materials could negatively affect the taste, texture and density of the RTE cereal products. More importantly, for lightly colored cereals such as than that are rice and/or corn (maize) based, calcium fortification can result in development of off-colors.
RTE cereal products fabricated from rice and/or corn based cooked cereal doughs such as Rice Chex.TM., Corn Chex.TM., or Honey Nut Chex.TM., (a rice and corn based RTE cereal) are very popular. Such rice and/or corn base products are popular in part due to their light coloration and light airy texture. The combination of their rice and/or corn flavor as well as their light color and texture are particularly pleasing. A good description of techniques for forming such RTE cereal products is given in U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,532 entitled "Method for Manufacture of Cereal Food Products" (issued Jun. 17, 1952 to D. Hule et al.) and U.S Pat No. 2,743,685 entitled "Apparatus for Manufacturing a Cereal Food Products" (issued May 1, 1956 to D. Hale et al.) each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In view of the current interest in providing RTE cereals having high levels of calcium fortification, it would thus be desirable to provide RTE cereal products fabricated from rice and/or corn based cooked cereal doughs fortified with supplemental calcium to provide a significantly nutritionally enhanced product. Calcium carbonate at 40% dry weight calcium is potentially a good ingredient to employ to provide desired calcium fortification. Unfortunately, however, RTE cereal products fabricated from lightly colored cereal doughs such as but not limited to rice and/or corn based cooked cereal doughs fortified with high levels of calcium supplied by calcium carbonate can develop an undesirable green or grey discoloration.
One technique for addressing this discoloration is to add coloring agents or other colored ingredients to mask or darken the cereal. However, it would be desirable to provide RTE cereal products that exhibit the familiar and desirable light color which nonetheless posses high levels of calcium fortification. Another technique to provide RTE cereal products that are naturally darker such as those that are wheat based. The dark brown color of the wheat-based products naturally masks any discoloration that can occur.
It would thus be desirable to be able to calcium fortify RTE cereal products fabricated from lightly colored cooked cereal doughs to provide high levels of calcium fortification while minimizing discoloration and maintaining a light coloration.
The present invention is directed towards the provision of improved R-T-E cereal products fortified with high calcium levels of superior appearance and reduced discoloration. The present invention resides in part in the additionally including particular levels of sequestrants into a lightly colored cooked cereal dough formulation, cooking the calcium and sequestrant containing cereal ingredients to form cooked cereal doughs of reduced discoloration and forming such cooked cereal doughs into finished RTE cereal products.
The present invention further resides in part in the selection of calcium material of particular type and size to provide the desired calcium fortification.